Picking Up the Pieces
by fleurofthecourt
Summary: Warning: Character Death This is several short stories with Neal and Elizabeth after Peter's death. [Elizabeth/Neal].
1. Chapter 1

"Honey, we're home," he shouted as he walked in the door with Hannah perched on his shoulders. Neal was merely being flippant, but his careless dialogue struck hard. Elizabeth walked from the living room into the entry way.

"Hannah, did you and Neal have fun at the park?" Elizabeth asked, her voice somewhat strained. She didn't look directly at Neal.

"Yes, Mommy," Hannah replied as Neal set her down on the floor, "He and Uncle Mozzie taught me a card trick." Usually, this kind of information led to Elizabeth giving Neal a reproachful look, but she merely nodded.

"Hannah, why don't you go up to your room and put on your PJs, and I'll be up in a few minutes to read you a bedtime story," Neal suggested, while looking studiously at Elizabeth. Hannah took his advice, running up the stairs, babbling about which book she wanted read.

Neal approached Elizabeth slowly; although they had slowly become more than good friends after Peter's death, neither of them felt quite right about it. Initially, they had been there for one another because neither of them had been coping well. Although Elizabeth had originally protested, he hadn't felt comfortable with leaving her home alone with a six month old baby, especially since the circumstances of Peter's death had been somewhat mysterious. Then as time had gone on, Neal stayed, ostensibly because Hannah had become attached to him. But really it was because Neal and Elizabeth didn't think they could live without one another anymore.

"Neal, I'm sorry; I know you didn't mean anything by it," Elizabeth started, a few tears running down her cheek.

"Elizabeth, don't be sorry" Neal said pulling her into a hug with one arm and wiping at her tears with his free hand. "I wasn't thinking... obviously."

"I just always think that one day I'm going to be okay; I won't get emotional over little things, like the word _honey," _she let out a little sob as she said the word, "For god's sake, it's been four years."

"We're always going to miss him. And I for one, am not going to judge you if you get emotional over little things. And although you are sworn to secrecy on this one, I've gotten a little teary eyed looking at old case files we worked on together"

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Elizabeth replied, but she knew from the pained look in Neal's eyes that he wasn't.

"Now, what tricks were you and Mozzie teaching my little girl?"

_A/N: I have never written character death before; it was not easy and I have no idea what possessed me. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Daddy, look," Hannah started tugging on the end of Neal's suit. Neal looked helplessly at Mozzie who had been babysitting while he and Elizabeth had been at work.

"Hannah, show _Neal _your drawing," Mozzie said.

"I knew this would happen," he said, closing his eyes. Mozzie started to attempt to tell Neal that it was understandable, but Neal's mind was focused on what should have been a happy memory.

* * *

><p>Neal was about to enter the hospital room in the maternity ward. But he hesitated when he saw Peter looking intently at the baby lying serenely in Elizabeth's arms.<p>

"El, she's beautiful," Peter said as he picked his daughter up for the first time. Neal watched Peter beaming down at the infant for a moment longer, and then decided to walk around the hall and come back so as not to interrupt what was clearly a private moment.

When Neal was almost back to the door, Peter walked out into the hallway.

"Neal, there you are," Peter said, a sudden look of relief on his face. Then he gestured for Neal to follow him down the hall "What have I gotten myself into?"

"You looked happy enough a few minutes ago," Neal answered.

"I am happy, now. But, Neal, you've seen me with children; I'm terrible with them."

"Come on Peter Pan, you were made for this," Neal smirked "But, Peter, in all seriousness, you'll be a great dad. And I've told you this before, you aren't terrible with children, you're uncomfortable around them. Besides, this one's yours."

"You're right, you're right; I'm just panicking," Peter said. Then he studied Neal for a moment, "What are you hiding in your coat pocket? Please tell me you aren't on the verge of creating on international incident inside a hospital."

"Why, Peter, why would you ever think such a thing," Neal answered pulling a pink case of cigars out of his pocket.

"Neal, you may dress like it, but we don't really live in the fifties."

"Fine. I'll celebrate the birth of your daughter without you."

"You can't smoke inside the hospital."

"I never said anything about smoking inside the hospital; these are for later."

"Well, in that case, I suppose it couldn't hurt to give Hannah an old fashioned welcome into the world."

"Hannah? Is that her name?"

"Yeah." Peter smiled as he had when he had been looking down at her before.


	3. Chapter 3

"Neal, are you sure this is the best idea?" Elizabeth whispered hesitantly.

"No. But I don't know how else to explain it to her. Besides, she doesn't have to know I'm the thief."

"That's not my only concern. And why are you using _thief _anyway?"

"Do you _really_ want me to explain a confidence man to a three year old?"

"Probably Not."

Elizabeth walked over to the bed and sat down next to Hannah.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Neal asked.

"I wouldn't miss this story for the world."

Neal regarded Elizabeth warily for a moment, unsure how her presence would affect his storytelling. Then he pulled the chair in the corner towards Hannah's bed and turned to Hannah.

"Are you ready for a story? It's a long one, but I promise it's a good one."

Hannah nodded enthusiastically. Neal grinned at her, and began:

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away, there was a good man and a thief. The good man worked hard to find the thief. But the thief was very crafty. He didn't want to be caught. He hid in palaces and mansions all over the kingdom, as he continued to take things that were not his to take. Although the thief was quite clever and had many plans to throw the good man off, but the good man learned about the peasant girl that the thief was in love with. So he found the peasant girl for the thief. But the peasant girl couldn't help the thief when the many castle guards found him. And the thief was sent to a castle dungeon as punishment for his crimes.

This would have been the end of the story, but the thief was still in love with the peasant girl. And the peasant girl came to visit him in the dungeon. She wanted him to run away with her. But he could not because he was in the dungeon. So, he used a disguise to trick the guards in the dungeon into letting him out of the dungeon. But when he escaped, the peasant girl had disappeared. In despair, he went back to the cottage they had once shared. There, the good man found him. While the good man did not approve of the thief's actions, he understood that the thief had done what he had done out of love.  
>The good man kindly told the thief that he had been foolish and would be sent back to the dungeon. But the thief had other ideas. He offered to help the good man find other thieves. After some consideration, the good man agreed. And after that, the good man and the thief worked together and became very good friends."<p>

Neal paused. He wanted this to be the end of the narrative. He didn't want to explain the eventual death of the peasant girl or the good man. Why, of all of them, did the thief survive, he wondered to himself. He unconsciously clasped his hands and began wringing them together. Elizabeth watched him anxiously before suggesting, "Neal, why don't we tell Hannah more of the tales of the good man and the thief another night? She looks like she's going to fall asleep on us anyway."

Neal looked at Hannah and saw that she was fighting to keep her eyes open. He conceded to Elizabeth that she was right, and they both kissed Hannah goodnight. Then they walked out into the hall.

"Neal, you don't have to tell her the whole story."

"Yes, I do. She has to know. She doesn't need to know all the details. But she has to know how good a man her father was. And nothing will prove that better than the whole story."

"I don't think anyone respects that more than I do, but try to remember, you're emotionally invested in the story. And that's going to make it harder and harder to tell. And Neal, her calling you _daddy_ isn't something that I was hoping for either. But it's also not the end of the world. You don't have to try so hard. You are helping to raise her after all. And between the two of us, I have no doubt she will know how great her father was."

"Mozzie told you, huh?"

"You were acting odd around me all evening; I thought he might offer a reasonable explanation."

"Wait, you knew this whole time, and you still let me tell the story?"

"I told you, I wouldn't miss that story for the world. And I meant it. I know you think I thought it was a bad idea, but it's actually a really good idea, in theory. Just not necessarily in execution. Most of my concerns about you telling the story don't concern Hannah. They concern you. Look at your hands."  
>Neal looked down to see that he was still wringing his hands together. Elizabeth then took his hands with hers, "Neal, you don't have to do this."<p>

Neal gripped Elizabeth's hands tighter and sighed.

"I'm not doing this because I feel guilty. At least, it's not the only reason. She needs to know."

"In that case, we'll continue the saga tomorrow."

"Will _you_ be okay if you keep listening to the story?" Neal asked.

"Perhaps not, but we'll still be here for each other."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: The scene in which Peter dies is contained in this chapter. You have been warned. _

Neal sat between Diana and Jones at the FBI conference table wishing he were anywhere else. He was gripping the table with his hands as though it was the only thing anchoring him there. He tried to focus on what Hughes was saying, but he didn't have the heart to listen. The only thing he could think was that Peter wasn't going to come into the office today or any day. He had been left partner-less. Suddenly, Neal felt a light tap on his back. He looked up to see Diana looking at him closely.

"Neal, are you with us?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. "I know this is hard. But we need to know what happened when you found Peter," Diana said, her voice cracking on Peter's name, as she placed her hand reassuringly on top of his.

The last thing Neal wanted to do was retell the events of the previous night. However, he also wanted to know the whole story behind what had happened. Although the fire could easily have been explained away as an accident, he didn't believe that it was.

He took a deep breath in and began the painful narration.

As Neal walked towards the Burke's house, he could hear Satchmo barking frantically. As Satchmo was usually really well-behaved, Neal found this odd. When he approached the entryway, he was surprised to see the door standing wide open.

"Peter? Are you here?" He shouted. He didn't receive any response.

Satchmo run up to him and continued barking and then sprinted back into the living room. Neal followed to find Peter lying motionless beneath the overturned couch, which appeared to be emitting very small traces of smoke, remnants from a fire that had since been put out.

"Peter, PETER!," Neal screamed. He ran the short distance from the kitchen into the living room, pulled the couch away, and begin shaking Peter frantically. A rational voice in the back of his mind told him that that was not going to help. Thus he felt for a pulse; it was there, but it was faint.

"Ne...al?" Peter asked, opening his eyes slightly, his voice hoarse. While he was trying to focus his gaze on Neal, his eyes were glassy and unfocused, "Where's... El?"

"She's...she's not here, Peter. She...Peter, stay with me!" Neal ordered as Peter's eyes closed once again. He tried to collect himself enough to search his suit jacket for his cell phone. He pulled it out and hurriedly dialed 911.

After he spoke with the paramedics and learned there wasn't anything he could do other than wait for them, he sat on the floor next to Peter and gripped his hand. Much to Neal's relief, Peter initially gripped it back. However, the relief was short-lived as Peter's fingers slowly loosened from Neal's. Neal continued to squeeze Peter's hand, whether to comfort himself or Peter, he wasn't sure.

_A/N: I can't bring myself to write the next part so I'm just going to stop here. But It involves a sheet going over Peter... maybe if you check this again later I'll have gotten past the sudden urge to do anything but work on this story when I think about it_


End file.
